Chariot 3: Conception
Chapter 10 – The man`s faith

The Captain quietly watched the life changing scene. His eyes did not blink until he realized how perplexed he actually was. Shoffer then produced a short smile and finally blinked, back from his trance, looking to the sides ensuring the others had not seeing his face.

With the press of a button Flumen started to spin his helix, lifting dust among them. The magnetic field on the small base where they were standing was activated once the second button was pushed.

After pressing the first button again, the heli-rings stabilized and lighted up red, the directional light turned on bright amber once the pilot moved the lever up. As soon as the purple indicator lit up, the propulsion started and they took off back to where they had come from.

At the meantime, memories of similar encounter started coming back to V-Nus. He closed his eyes, willing to remember more whilst feeling the thick dust blown onto his naked hands.

At that moment, Images of his childhood came back to life.

V-Nus saw himself opening the cockpit of a rocket ship at a much younger age, during his early teenagehood. On the outside staring at him, an elderly man whose mouth was semi-open in surprise. His expression then slowly turned into a smile after realizing that was a boy who seated on its interior.

The old man looked as human as any Martian would look. He had long hair and a thick beard, as white as the stars would look at night, and his skin was wrinkly and marked by the traces of age.

The man`s eyes were brown and looked full of happiness. The few vestments that he worn appeared almost as old as he was, judging by the rough way they were conserved.

Suddenly V-Nus was brought back to reality, after a small rock hit his helmet, blown by one of the heli-rings. For a moment he thought he had forgotten that man, he then reminded himself of the promise he had made to never forget anyone.

Ezekiel closed his eyes as they ascended in an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the cloud of dust that was blown against his face. Meters above the ground, he thought of looking back down to the same spot where he had come from, curious with the perspective he would have, but after realizing where they were going to, he changed his mind and looked straight up to the clouds. The moment after, with brilliance on his eyes and happiness on his front, Ezekiel saw her, the glorious chariot of the gods.

Chariot 3 was exactly where they had left her and as the four heli-rings performed a soft approach vertically raising through the horizon at the pace the sun set down behind their back.

Their helixes slowed down their speed the instant before reaching the magnetic passage which opened the exact second before the first one crossed it, leaving the last rays of sunlight being overtaken by darkness in the outside.

They landed inside the ship producing a momentarily unpleasant noise of metal been scratched similar to what an Earthian would have described as a blade being sharpened.

Behind them, the 3 spherical probes that now glowed yellow approached Chariot 3 on a triangular formation until they coupled back to the base of the ship, and reintegrated its landing gear.

Inside, they switched off the engines and descended the astonishing rings while the man measured the so far inconceivable interior of the chariot, amazed with the simplicity and perfection his eyes witnessed.

The heli-rings collapsed themselves while Ezekiel analyzed the hollow space on the deckhead above. As the man scratched his dark brown beard, he noticed that it was probably there where the winged objects belonged and instinctively took a step back anticipating that they were likely to return to where they belonged.

The vehicles lifted up by themselves, weightless, and then blended with the metallic deckhead, leaving no trace of their existence.

The man looked down to the deck and watched the scratches left by the landing of the machines disappear as if they were simply absorbed by the sacred ground that he stepped on. For his surprise, the deck looked impeccably pure as if no man had ever stood on it.

The four creatures looked at the man – who still stared at the plain surface below him – and then looked back at each other. V-Nus was about to remove his helmet, but his hands stopped as he hesitated once he realized he had gained the visitor`s attention.

V-Nus then turned his face to the right in search of his Captain, unsure of his consent to review his appearance.

Captain Shoffer nodded a short and almost hesitating approval with his head, the plasmatic visor dissolved at the moment they twisted the simpleminded helmets and simultaneously detached them from the collar of the uniform.

V-Nus gave the man a brief smile as if they met for the first time. The man`s eyes scanned the four humanoids who lined up next to each other from right to left, and then rapidly returned, trying to somehow compare the differences between each of them.

Without their helmets, the four humanoids no longer seemed so heavenly, but instead, surprisingly familiar, if not for the terrifying blackened eyes.

“Welcome back Captain. The probes have just returned and I am finishing analyzing their readings. I suggest that you all return to the bridge now.” It was rather evident that Chariot 3 had an incredible ability of breaking the momentum over and over.

Captain Shoffer took the only step on the ladder looking device next to the essential tube and ordered them to bring the estimated visitor up to the Bridge.

After grabbing the two handles on each side of the ascending unit with a slight pressure, the device slid, swiftly lifting the Captain up to the Bridge.

Flumen passed the instructions along and led the way up behind his captain.

The man had a smile of excitement on his face and before V-Nus could give any instruction on the apparatus, Ezekiel was already up on the Bridge.